Photo: Dennisyerger84 · CC BY-SA 4.0Portage’s library is a branch of Porter County Public Library System, which lends more per resident than 71% of systems its size
Portage’s library is the Portage Public Library, a branch of Porter County Public Library System, which serves 152,580 people and lent 1.2M items last year.
The short version on Portage’s library
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 1,291 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 13 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
The Portage branch is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Portage’s library is a branch of Porter County Public Library System, so they cover the whole system (152,580 people), not just the Portage branch.
What’s behind Portage’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Portage is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #492 of 571 in Indiana. Portage is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$95K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
104 community nonprofits are registered in Portage
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (23 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.1%
7.1% of Portage’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Portage’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Porter County Public Library System serves 152,580 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 73 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Porter County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
396,016 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 18 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Portage Public Library, 2665 Irving Street, Portage.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Porter County Public Library System branch.
New in Portage? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Portage cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.7M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 60,759 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary | Gary Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 60 | C− |
| Calumet Township | Gary Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 60 | C− |
| Portage | Portage Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | C |
| Portage Township | Portage Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | C |
| Westchester Township | Westchester Public Library | — | 69 | A |
| Chesterton | Westchester Public Library | — | 69 | A+ |
| Burns Harbor | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Ogden Dunes | None of its own | — | — | D |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Portage Public Library is one branch of Porter County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 152,580 people it serves.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Portage
Does Portage have a public library?
Yes: Portage Public Library, 2665 Irving Street, is a branch of Porter County Public Library System, which serves 152,580 people. The branch is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Porter County Public Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Portage’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 7.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Portage’s civic life grade?
C Portage is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #492 of 571 in Indiana. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Portage.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.